Clapton_ The Autobiography - Eric Clapton [157]
As I write this, I am sixty-two years old, twenty years sober, and busier than I have ever been. I have completed a big world tour, and even if all the travel is sometimes grueling, I like the pace. I am virtually deaf, but refuse to wear a hearing aid because I like the way things sound naturally, even if I can hardly hear them. I am lazy, refusing to do any exercise, and as a result am completely unfit. I am a complete curmudgeon and proud of it. I know who I am these days, and I know that if there is nothing much going on at any given time, I will start something, not out of boredom but because I need movement. I have a rhythmic nature. That’s not to say that I don’t know how to relax. I like nothing better than doing nothing, but after a while I need to be on the move again.
It is 2007, and this summer I will help stage another Crossroads Guitar Festival, which I’m really looking forward to. Some great musicians are coming out to play, and I value the chance to hear them more and more as time goes by. Thank God so many of them are still around. I have, for instance, been playing on this tour with Doyle Bramhall and Derek Trucks, two fine guitar players who prove that the real thing is still alive and kicking. Playing with them keeps me young and pushes me far beyond my normal limitations.
My family continues to bring me joy and happiness on a daily basis, and if I were anything but an alcoholic, I would gladly say that they are the number one priority in my life. But this cannot be, because I know I would lose it all if I did not put my sobriety at the top of that list. I continue to attend twelve-step meetings and stay in touch with as many recovering people as I can. Staying sober and helping others to achieve sobriety will always be the single most important proposition of my life.
But let’s stay real here, too. I have been out on the road all my life, and at the end of every tour, I swear it will be my last. Nothing has changed in that regard. “It’s a goddamned impossible life,” as my friend Robbie Robertson once said, and this recent tour, as great as it has been musically, has also been very taxing. I can’t sleep well away from home anymore, hotels are not what they used to be, and I miss my family so much. I also suffer from physical complaints a lot more than I used to in my youth, such as bad back pain and digestion disorders. It all adds up, and going onstage under par is my worst-case scenario. So, as much as I love to play, touring on the grand scale has, I think, seen the last of me. I will work as long as I live, but I will have to find another approach that isn’t quite so arduous.
Looking back, my journey has brought me into proximity with some of the great masters of my profession, and all of them took the time to show me something of their craft, even if they weren’t aware of it. Perhaps the most rewarding relationship I have had with any of these great players has been with Buddy Guy. In all the years I have known him, he has never really changed, and we have always remained great friends. In the musical sense, it was he who showed me the way forward, by example. The combination of wildness and finesse that his playing encompasses is totally unique and has allowed players from the rock genre to approach the blues from an unfettered perspective. In other words, he plays free, from the heart, acknowledging no boundaries.
I never really knew Stevie Ray Vaughan well. We played together only a couple of times, but it was enough to be able to link him with Jimi Hendrix in terms of commitment. They both played out of their skin, every time they picked up their instruments, as if there was no tomorrow, and the level of devotion they both showed to their art was identical. Listening to Stevie on the night of his last performance here on earth was almost more than I could stand and made me feel like there was nothing left to say. He had said it all. His brother Jimmie is one of my closest friends and is, in my opinion, in the same league as Buddy, totally unique in style and